Improvement in car-brakes



R. C. OHARA.

Gar-Brake.

910,155,250, Patentedjuly,l875.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD O. OHARA, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 165,250, dated J uly 6, 1875 application iiled February 13, 1875.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD C. OHARA, of Houston, in the State of Texas, have iuventedwan Improvement in Railway Gar- Brakes, of which the following is a specifica` tion:

I make use of a loose drum upon one of the axles of the engine, preferably upon the axle of the driver, and a lever and frictiou'couplin g, by means of which the drum is revolved when brought into action by the engineer. A chain or wire-rope leads from this drum along to the' back end of the train. It is preferable to emfirst-named chain is drawn upon, the chain that is loose around the brake-actuating drums will be tightened and commence to rotate the drums and apply the power to the brakes at the last car, and then the second car, and so on until all the brakes of the train are applied. By this arrangement the difficulties heretofore experienced with chain-brakes are avoided, because, if a chain is passed from the engine back and around brake wheels or drums, the power will be applied to the brakes of the first car, and the momentum causes the rear cars to run toward the first cars and slacken the brake-actuating chain, so that it becomes inoperative, or else the brakes of the front cars are liable to be injured by undue strain.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a general plan, illustrating the mechanism employed for drawing upon the chains, and the direction in which `such chain is led to the brake-actuating wheels or drums; and Fig. 2 is a sectional viewof r the same.

The axle a and wheels are those from which the'power is to be derived, and by preference they are the drivers of the engine, or one of the pairs of wheels upon the tender, so as to be contiguous to the engineer. Upon this axle a is fastened a friction-clutch, d, and the winch-barrel or drum c is loose upon the shaft, but can be moved endwise by lever f into contact with the friction-clutch, solas to be revolved thereby, and draw upon the wire-rope or chain 7L that extends along beneath the cars of the train to the back end thereof, and it is generally preferable to support this wire-rope or chain upon rollers or guides, and to insert an iron rod beneath each car taking the place of the chain or wire-rope for a port-ion of the length, and there are to be coupling-hooks to connect the respective portions of the said chain between one car and the next. At the rear car the chain passes around the chain-wheel t' that is part of or connected with the brakeactuating drum l; thence the chain h passes forward and aroundthe chain-wheel `i of the next car, and so on to the first car of the train. From each drum l a chain, u, passes to the brake lever m, that may be of ordinary character, and act upon the usual brakes o. It will be apparent that the brakes commence to act at the rear of the train, and the power is applied to them successively, as hereinbefore set forth.

I do not claim a'car-brake, in which arope passes around pulleys upon the brake-blocks to draw them together, as the rope is -short ened by being wound upon a drum at the engine. In my brake the force exerted is augmented by the brake-levers and drums upon each car. A

I claim as my invention The combination of chaiudrums Z, chains a, brake-levers m, chain-wheels i, and chain 7L, leading from the rear car to the winding drum all substantially as and for the purposeY set forth.

Signed by me this 29th day of December,

R. (l. OHARA. Witnesses:

A. A. MCBRYDE, W. SoUTHwicK. 

